MONTGOMERY, Ala. –The Spring Hill College (SHC) women's basketball team suffered a late-game melt down in a 66-59 non-conference loss to the Auburn University at Montgomery (AUM) Warhawks at the AUM Athletics Complex on Tuesday night.
 
The Warhawks (5-3) held a 10-9 lead at the 5-minute mark, but senior point guard Jennifer Clark found a backdoor layup just seconds later as the Badgers carried an 11-10 lead into the first media timeout at 4:35. Back-to-back 3 pointers by sophomore Elise Reilly put the Badgers up 18-12 with two minutes left in the quarter, but SHC was not done in the frame and tacked on seven more points to take a 25-14 lead into the second stanza.
 
Spring Hill maintained a 29-20 cushion at the second media timeout, but AUM sliced into the lead with an 11-3 run over the final five minutes of the period. Following a fast break layup at 2:20, AUM added two free throws at 27 seconds and ended the period with a driving layup at the buzzer to make it a 32-29 Badger lead heading to halftime.
 
Senior guard Jewel Hill opened the second half with a successful short jumper in the paint and later followed with a fingertip roll in to rebuild a 38-32 Badger advantage with 7:21 on the clock while Angel Carthen also found two points with a layup to keep it a 40-34 contest at 6:10. AUM knocked down a 3-pointer from the right side to pull within 45-42, but Reilly connected on two free throws on the other end to keep SHC ahead 47-42 at 1:13.
 
Hill made it a 53-44 SHC lead at 7:30 with another nifty lay up in traffic and Carthen completed an inside short jumper to maintain a 9-point bulge at 55-46 with 6:19 remaining. The Warhawks answered with a long 3-pointer from the right side and a fast break layup at 4:07 to cut it to a tenuous 55-53 Badger cushion.
 
At 3:43 AUM completed another fast break layup off a turnover and completed the 3-point play to take a brief 56-55 lead, but Daja Walker put a short floater in the hoop to give SHC back the lead at 2:51. AUM found a backdoor layup at 1:58 and came down with a defensive layup at 1:45. After a timeout at 1:21, the Warhawks drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to build a 61-57 at 1:15. AUM made 1-of-2 free throws at 32.6 seconds to make it a 62-57 difference in the contest.
 
Hill led Spring Hill by scoring 15 points and Reilly pitched in 12 points with Carthen adding 11 points with eight rebounds. As a team, SHC shot 44% (22-50) from the floor and 25% (4-16) from 3-point distance. The Badgers lost the ball 20 times against 14 steals by AUM that resulted in 17 points off turnovers for the home team. SHC earned a 38-30 edge in rebounding.
 
For the Warhawks, Evelina Avleeva found 17 points to pace four AUM players in double-digit scoring. AUM made 38.7% (24-62) of their shots including 31.6% (6-19) from behind the 3-point arc while losing 17 turnovers to six Badgers steals.
 
The Badgers (7-3, 1-0 SIAC West) next hit the road for a two-game Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) road trip through South Carolina beginning on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. (east) at the Claflin University Panthers (5-5, 3-1 SIAC East) in the Jonas T. Kennedy Health and Physical Education Center in Orangeburg.